Washington DC [US], September 26 (ANI): The White House has barred CNN from flying aboard Air Force One on Saturday (local time) as part of the television press pool covering US President Donald Trump’s trip to Tennessee for a college football game.
The White House’s daily guidance and press schedule for Saturday (local time) listed RAV as the secondary television correspondent and crew for the out-of-town travel pool, but did not name CNN or another outlet as the primary television pool member. The schedule was issued on Friday.
CNN had been scheduled to fly aboard the president’s plane as part of the White House TV press pool, a rotating group of journalists that covers the president in locations where space is limited and shares the information and video gathered with other television networks.
As per CNN, the move is the latest development in the Trump administration’s dispute with it and other news organisations over White House press access. Last week, Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were being banned from the White House, a move that also prevented CNN from flying on Air Force One and carrying out its scheduled pool duties when Trump travelled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
A judge later blocked the administration from enforcing the White House ban on the three outlets and ordered it to restore the credentials of affected reporters. The status of the White House pool, however, remained less clear, as per CNN.
With CNN barred from the television pool, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS had refused to perform their pool duties until regular access was restored. Regular coverage resumed on Friday, with CNN serving as part of the pool as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the National Archives.
It remained unclear how the White House’s latest move could affect the ongoing litigation involving CNN, MS NOW and Politico. An outside lawyer representing CNN had previously told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that he believed the restoration of the outlets’ access also included the White House pool.
MS NOW and Politico are part of separate pool rotations from the five major television networks.
A judge has given the news organisations until Monday to file a request for a preliminary injunction, which would put Trump’s promised ban on the outlets on hold for a longer period.
The television pool is a primary means through which people around the world receive video of Trump’s speeches and public appearances, as it provides video feeds and information to other news organisations.
Along with television, the White House press pool includes print, radio and still photography pools. The system exists partly because presidents travel and speak at locations where the wider press corps cannot be present.
The Trump White House also produces its own content, including live streams of presidential events.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich said, “That’s the system that allows the networks to share video of the president with the whole country. If they aren’t there, the pool can’t function.”
Weijia Jiang of CBS, who previously served as WHCA president, said, “And America cannot have state TV.”
“That’s what makes America America,” Jiang said. “That’s why we need independent coverage, and that’s why this press pool system has been set up for so long and why it works – because you need independent actors to be able to be the observers.”
Jiang added, “If the government is only showing you what it wants, then you have to question, what are we missing? And that’s what the pool, that’s what these outlets bring to the table.” (ANI)
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